News

Rector of Tribhuvan University visits Bergen

Rector Guna Nidhi Neupane and Registrar Chandra Mani of Tribhuvan University in Nepal visited UiB in December 2013 to familiarize themselves with the University of Bergen.

Anne Christine Johannessen, UiB’s Vice-Rector for International Relations, and Rector Neupane discussed new possibilities for both teaching and research collaboration between the two institutions.

Meetings were also held at Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, the Faculty of Law, and UiB Global.

UiB has collaborated with Tribhuvan University since the early 1990s, especially within the fields of social anthropology, medicine, biology, geography, public administration, and law.

One example of UiB/TU collaboration is the large Regional Master program in Biodiversity and Environmental Management which came to a close in December last year. This partnership also included the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, University of Ghana, Kumaon University in India, Makerere University in Uganda and Yunnan University in China.

Research Himalaya launched

Professor Gro Th. Lie formally initiated ‘Research Himalaya’ on January 17, as a network of UiB researchers working in Himalaya. Professor Lie highlighted possibilities for network activities and new collaborative projects between UiB and universities from Himalaya. Researchers from Nepal currently working in Bergen presented their research.

This network provides a meeting place for researchers, PhD candidates, Master students, and other scholars who are interested in research on international development and global challenges. It will engage people through seminars, meetings, exhibitions, talks, and the internet.

Research Himalaya is housed at UiB Global and Dr. Krishna Babu Shrestha is coordinating the activities.

Projects

ONGOING PHD PROJECTS

Forest management in Nepal - from 'bread' to REDD: Cases from Dolakha and Kaski districts of Nepal Himalaya Discussion of Nepalese forest management is not a new case; it has been debated continuously since 1970s after the emergence of Theory of Himalayan Environment Degradation (hereafter ‘theory’). This ‘theory’ hypothesized that the reason of flooding in Bangladesh was due to the depletion of forests by poor hill farmers of Nepal. Thus, it created an imaginary environmental crisis during the 1970s. By then, it became a hegemonic discourse and justified many aid-based interventions in Nepal. Some scholar argue that emergence of community forestry model in the mid hills of Nepal was also a response to the theory. More information

Quantifying recent glacier fluctuations in the Manaslu region of the Nepali Himalayas The glaciers of the Himalayan mountains are some of the most under-sampled in the world owing to their remoteness, harsh conditions, and in some areas political situations. They are also intrinsically linked to the lives of millions of people who rely on the melt water fed rivers in the Indian subcontinent. It is therefore important to understand the extent to which these glaciers have fluctuated. One suitable set of methodologies for this is remote sensing techniques. More information

Community forestry in the green economy: reforming the van panchayats in the Indian Himalaya Community forestry is increasingly seen as an important component in environmental governance. In the Indian state of Uttarakhand a process of reform has made forest councils compulsory in every village and introduced new rules within which they are to function. In this doctoral project I explore the many views of this contested reform process, taking into consideration current local livelihoods as well as future potential markets for ‘ecological services’ such as carbon. More information

A Search for New and Better Treatment of Oral Cancer Oral Cancer (OC) ranks as the sixth most common type of cancer worldwide, being the third most common in the developing countries including Nepal. However, its incidence is also increasing in developed countries like Norway.

Despite improvement in the diagnostic and treatment methods, more than 50% of OC patients die within 5-years of diagnosis. There is an urgent need for more research to identify molecular markers, which can help in early diagnosis and in the refinement of treatment. Research of this kind requires a large sample of OC specimens (both early stage and advanced cases).  

In this scenario, we have established a fruitful collaboration in 2011 with BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital (BPKMCH), the leading cancer hospital in Nepal. OC specimens collected from BPKMCH provide us with a unique opportunity to identify precise molecular changes associated with specific habit and lifestyle of Nepalese patients. Such findings might lead to the discovery of better treatment options for OC patients. More information

PAST PROJECTS

HimaLines (2009-2012)
Biodiversity and other ecosystem services essential for human well-being requires an effective legal framework to prevent over-exploitation and to give incentives for biodiversity protection. HimaLines tests the effectiveness of different legal frameworks for maintaining ecosystem services in high-altitude Himalayan forests in Nepal. More information

NOMA (2008-2014)
This Norad-programme developed a regional two years master program in Biodiversity and Environmental Management (BEM) at Tribhuvan University (TU), Nepal in collaboration with University of Bergen (UiB) and regional partners in India and China. The BEM degree is be awarded by Tribhuvan University, but the long term goal is to develop a regional degree in collaboration with regional partners. More information

Rhododendron Project (2000-2002)
This project aims to identify the climatic limits for selected Rhododendron species found in the Nepalese Himalaya. Rhododendrons are very popular garden plants due to their large, colorful flowers as well as their large, shiny green leaves. The applied aim is to be able to predict the chances of survival for Nepalese Rhododendron species when they are grown in gardens located in temperate climates. More information

High altitude ecology in Manang (2002-2006)
Fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential for sustaining life and development. The water resource in Himalaya is partly stored as glacier ice, i.e. capital water. There are approximately 70 large glaciers in Himalaya covering about 166.12 km² or 17 percent of the mountain area, the largest body of ice outside the polar caps. More information

Child Health Research Project
In a community based clinical trial of 2700 Nepalese children we assess the efficacy of giving 10 or 20 mg elemental zinc during pneumonia. We also measure the effect of this short-term zinc administration for 6 months after zinc has been given. More information

Publications

Activities

Network talk
Are Himalayan farmers capable of adapting to climate change? A case from Helambu, Nepal

Prof. Tor Halfdan Aase
Department of Geography (UiB)

Date: Wednesday, September 17th, 2014
Time: 13:30-14:30
Venue: Seminar room (240), UiB Global, Jekteviksbakken 31

The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is undergoing rapid change due to a number of drivers, which make the natural and human systems in the region increasingly vulnerable. Climate change contributes to the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events and natural hazards, leading to disasters with high economic and social costs. Although mountain communities generally have a high degree of self reliance and a rich tradition of risk aversion practices, the fast pace of change is compromising their capacities to deal effectively with change.

All are welcome!
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Network talk
The paradigm of Climate Change explanations and how this relates to the Himalayan scenario

Prof. Ole Reidar Vetaas
Department of Geography (UiB)

Date: Friday, June 6, 2014
Time: 13:30-14:30
Venue: Seminar room (240), UiB Global, Jekteviksbakken 31

The world is experiencing both a dramatic change in land use and a change in climate: land use changes have a very direct and immediate effect on biological life, environment, and peoples welfare whereas the effect of climate change is more indirect and on a longer temporal scale. However, climate change gets the political focus although land use changes causes many of the environmental disasters and hazards that often are tentatively attributed to climate changes.

In connection to the NOMA study program, several small scale research projects have been conducted on species reposes to climate and land use changes. Substantial changes have been documented even if the local climate has not changed. Thus, although climate change is a long term underpinning variable, many of the changes in vegetation and biodiversity are mostly related to land use changes due to various political decisions.

The Himalayan scenario is a typical example of the misuse of Climate Change explanations. For instance, the prime minister of Nepal argued on a recent conference that climate change is the biggest problem in Nepal and are direct cause of poverty and threatening the livelihood of many people. One do  not need much knowledge of the socio-political challenges in Nepal to understand  that that Climate Change is a scape goat of a political mess mainly caused by the political elite themselves. Several critical questions need to be addressed concerning the paradigm of Climate Change explanations of biodiversity, poverty, and livelihood crises in Nepal. First of all is there any dramatic change of climate in Nepal? 

All are welcome!
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Network talk
Correlates and likely causes for the decline in poverty in Nepal

Dr. Magnus Hatlebakk
Senior Researcher, Chr. Michelsen Institute

Date: Friday May 23
Time: 13:30-14:30
Venue: Seminar room, 3rd floor, CMI, Jekteviksbakken 31

Dr. Hatlebakk studies household level poverty traps that may result from inferior positions in the rural labor and credit markets. He applies game theory as well as quantitative and qualitative empirical methods to understand the relatively complex economic- and social interactions between landlords and the less wealthy households within village economies.

More recently, his research has developed into a focus on economic and social exclusion, in particular bonded labor and caste-based discrimination, as well as analysis of the civil conflicts in Nepal. Hatlebakk is also involved in research on nutritional demand among the poor, and the quality of rural health services.

All are welcome!

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Network talk
Changing drivers of food security and nutrition in remote high hills in Nepal

Peter Andersen
Associate Professor, Department of Geography, UiB

Date: Friday April 4, 2014
Time: 13:30-14:30
Venue: Seminar room, UiB Global, Jekteviksbakken 31

The talk will analyse how availability and access to food in Humla District are affected by land and labour availability, ethnicity, food aid and nutrition intervention, changes in the caravan trade, environmental legislation and technology diffusion – among others. The data presented are based on field work in cooperation with PhD candidate Yograj Gautam and postdoc Keshav Paudel.

Peter Andersen is associate professor at Department of Geography. His work is at the nexus agriculture/food/nutrition and he has been working on related issues in Himalaya since 1997, through two NUFU programmes and an EU project.

All are welcome!

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Film screening
Tama Gaun: The Copper village (97 minutes)

A film by Frode Storaas and Dipesh Kharel

Research: Nils Anfinset, Man Bahadur Khattri and Om Gurung

Date: Friday March 7, 2014
Time: 13:15-15:00
Venue: Seminar room, UiB Globall

In Okharbot and Ruma villages, Myagdi District of Western Nepal, a few persons still know the age-old traditional practise of mining, smelting and casting of copper. The copper has a number of symbolic meanings and economic aspects connected to exchange and healing properties, as well as being the Hindu god Shiva. 

The village consists of about 2000 inhabitants of various ethnic groups and casts. The complex caste system of Nepal, although abolished, still structures the lives of most people. The caste system basically consists of occupational specialists such as the smiths, tailors, butchers etc. The untouchable smiths, the Kami, produce one of the purest metals in Hindu cosmology, and the important Hindu god Shiva is believed to be manifested in the copper.

The mining is performed with relatively simple tools and without fire setting ore explosives, only using chisels and bags to collect the ore. Outside the mine the ore is washed and sorted, before the actual smelting process starts. This is a three-staged process a first smelting, roasting and a second smelting which ends with the pure copper in the bottom of the furnace.

The film follows Ujir, the foreman, who guides the steps of the mining and smelting. During the smelting work the festival of Dashain took place in the village and there the ethnic group 'Magars' played a central role, slaughtering and distributing meat and giving blessings. The festival is part of the social and cultural context of the traditional smelting process of copper shown in the film.

All are welcome!

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Network talk
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in the Himalaya

Harry John Betteley Birks
Professor, Department of Biology, UiB

Date: 7th February, 2014.
Time: 13:15-15:00
Venue: UiB Global, Jekteviksbakken 31

See the ppt-presentation

John Birks is professor at the Department of Biology. He has done extensive research on Quaternary pollen analysis, vegetation history, quantitative paleoecology, palaeolimnology, and community ecology.

The talk considers six main questions

(1) How diverse in terms of vascular plants are the Himalaya (here defined to be the Sino-Himalayan area including the adjacent mountains of south-west China) in comparison with other mountain ranges in the world?

(2) How and why does Himalayan plant biodiversity vary in geographical space?

(3) Are there 'species swarms' of endemic species in the Himalaya?

(4) How does Himalayan plant biodiversity vary in ecological space (thermal belts and life-zones)?

(5) How do ecosystem service vary in geographical and ecological space in the Himalaya? What are the major current threats to Himalayan biodiversity and ecosystem services?

(6) What are the major challenges in Himalayan biodiversity research?

The talk will be illustrated with landscape and plant images taken during nine Himalayan botanical expeditions 2001-2012.

All are welcome!

Resources

Presentations

Video

Photos

About us

Contact

Krishna Babu Shrestha, PhD
UiB Global
Jekteviksbakken 31
PO Box 7800
5020 Bergen
Norway

Phone: +47 5558 2813
Email: Krishna.Shrestha@bio.uib.no

Professors

Gro Therese Lie, Faculty of Psychology/UiB Global

Anne Christine Johansen, Vice -Rector for Interantional Relations, UiB

Gunnar Håland, Department of Social Anthropology, UiB

Ernst Nordtveit, Faculty of Law, UiB

Tor Aase, Department of Geography, UiB

Vigdis Vandvik, Department of Biology, UiB

John Arvid Grytnes, Department of Biology, UiB

Ole Reidar Vetaas, Department of Geography, UiB

Hans Peter Andersen, Department of Geography, UiB

Ishtiaq Jamil, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, UiB

Magnus Hatlebakk, Chr. Michelsen Institute

Espen Villanger, Chr. Michelsen Institute

Halvor Sommerfelt, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, UiB

Tor A Strand, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, UiB

Postdocs

Inger Måren, Department of Geography, UiB

Keshav Poudel, Department of Geography, UiB

Dipak Sapkota, Department of Clinical Medicine, UiB

Ram Krishna Chandyo, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, UiB

Bhuvan Bhatta, The Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research

Diwakar Poudel, Norwegian School of Economics (NHH)

Anak Bhandari, Geophysical Institute, UiB

PhDs

Anjana Shrestha, Department of Biomedicine, UiB

Rajib Chaulagain, Department of Biomedicine, UiB

Himalaya Parajuli, Department of Clinical Medicine, UiB

Shusma Bartaula, Department of Clinical Dentistry, UiB

Yog Raj Gautam, Department of Geography, UiB

Sudha Basnet, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, UiB

Punit Bhattachan, Department of Molecular Biology, UiB

Lila Nath Sharma, Department of Geography, UiB

Dilli Poudel, Department of Geography, UiB

Sunita Sharma, Department of Clinical Dentistry, UiB

Nikoletta Kanellopoulou, Faculty of Law, UiB

Ganesh Neupane, Norwegian School of Economics (NHH)

Nina Holmelin, CICERO

Benjamin Robson, Department of Geography, UiB

Clare Tompsett, Department of Geography, UiB